Isa 9:14-15, 10:33-34 | JFB | STEP | 14. head and tail —proverbial for the highest and lowest ( ). branch and rush —another image for the same thought ( ). The branch is elevated on the top of the tree: the rush is coarse and low.

Isaiah 9:14-15

14. head and tail—proverbial for the highest and lowest (De 28:13, 44).

branch and rush—another image for the same thought (Isa 19:15). The branch is elevated on the top of the tree: the rush is coarse and low.

15. ancient—the older.

honourable—the man of rank.

prophet . . . lies, . . . tail—There were many such in Samaria (1Ki 22:6, 22, 23; compare as to "tail," Re 9:19).

Isaiah 10:33-34

33. bough—literally, the "beauty" of the tree; "the beautiful branch."

high ones of stature—"the upright stem," as distinguished from the previous "boughs" [HORSLEY].

34. This verse and Isa 10:33 describe the sudden arrest and overthrow of Sennacherib in the height of his success; Isa 10:18, 19; Eze 31:3, 14, &c., contain the same image; "Lebanon" and its forest are the Assyrian army; the "iron" axe that fells the forest refers to the stroke which destroyed the one hundred and eighty-five thousand Assyrians (2Ki 19:35). The "Mighty One" is Jehovah (Isa 10:21; Isa 9:6).